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Shattered Legions
leads his Shattered Legion warriors against the Traitor forces]] The Shattered Legions is a collective term used when referring to the survivors of the three Loyalist Space Marine Legions that were cruelly betrayed during the calamitous events of the Dropsite Massacre of Istvaan V in 006.M31, during the open stages of the Horus Heresy. The scattered survivors of each were cast across the northern sectors of the Imperium, and in the weeks that followed, small groups of Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders coalesced in the darkness. Following the example and vision of Iron Lord Shadrak Meduson, the leader of Clan Sorrgol, Captain of the Iron Hands 10th Clan-Company, the Istvaan survivors formed into mixed cells of no more than a thousand Legionaries each, each to commit to an all-out campaign of violence deep behind the Traitors' lines, prosecuting a bitter shadow war intended to divert enemy resources away from the advance on Terra and to bleed the Traitors dry in the process. Later, numerous other such forces would come into being on both sides of the Traitor-Loyalist divide, the fracture between either faction of the civil war far from a clean one. History After the news of the Istvaan III Atrocity was brought to the Emperor of Mankind by the Loyalists aboard the Death Guard Frigate Eisenstein, He ordered the combined forces of seven Space Marine Legions to assault the positions of Warmaster Horus and his Traitor Legions in the Istvaan System. During that assault on the world of Istvaan V, three Loyalist Astartes Legions -- the Iron Hands, the Salamanders and the Raven Guard -- were betrayed by the 4 other Legions of the Loyalist second wave -- the Alpha Legion, Night Lords, Iron Warriors, and a large contingent of Word Bearers -- who they had believed were loyal to the Emperor of Mankind, but in fact had already betrayed the Imperium and secretly turned to the service of the rebellious Warmaster Horus and Chaos. As the Loyalists retreated back towards what they believed were friendly lines, the hidden Traitors revealed their allegiance by opening fire upon the Loyalists, catching them between a Traitor hammer and anvil and nearly destroying all three Loyalist Legions. This victory demolished what the Loyalists had believed to be their numerical superiority and opened the path to the conquest of Terra for Horus and his allies amongst the Forces of Chaos. Righteous Vengeance Following the calamitous events that unfolded in the Istvaan System, what little information Rogal Dorn, Lord of the Imperial Fists Legion knew, came directly from his brother Primarch Corvus Corax, Lord of the Raven Guard. Upon breaking free of the bloodshed of the Dropsite Massacre, Corax had led the shattered remnants of his Legion in a ninety-eight day battle for survival, culminating in its miraculous rescue from the very jaws of the foe. Ignorant of the extent of the Warmaster's betrayal and aware that Horus might expect him to immediately return to his Legion's home world of Deliverance to fortify and regroup, Corax made directly through the turbulent Warp for Terra, and there recounted the awful scope of the Dropsite Massacre. Having done so, Corax then took the last few thousand of his warriors home with the desperate hope of rebuilding his ravaged command. The fate of Corax and his Raven Guard is well-documented, but of the other Legions betrayed during the Drop Site Massacre, still less was known for certain. Corax had confirmed the bitter news of the death of his brother Ferrus Manus of the Xth Legion at the hands of their brother Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children, news that had shaken Malcador and the members of the Council of Terra to the core. Of the Iron Hands Legion itself, it was known that many had been driven to stark madness by witnessing their father's end and thrown themselves wholesale into the crucible of war as if to absolve their loss in their own deaths. Yet, a substantial number of Iron Hands Legionaries had extricated themselves from the massacre, and while few had made it off the surface, many more had survived the calamitous void ambush of the Legion's fleet, breaking away and scattering across the stars. Some would form isolationist bands, fighting their own private wars against the Traitors, such as the infamous "Red Talons" of Autek Mor, or refuse any master save their own will as did the company known to some records as the "Heart of Stone." Others, such as those who came to follow Shadrak Meduson, would form a series of ad-hoc, cell-structured forces slowly cohering into a single loosely knit organisation; a shattered Legion army shot through with elements of other forces that had been wrecked by the base treachery at Istvaan. Of the fate of the Legiones Astartes Salamanders, still less was known. Witnesses had watched in horror as the entire sector in which the last of the XVIIIth had fought was consumed in atomic fire. Of all three Legions betrayed at the Drop Site Massacre, the Salamanders suffered the worst, scant few of their number escaping. Of these, most would join the bitter shadow-war against the Traitors either as part of shattered Legion warbands, or more rarely as coherent forces of their own entirely, such as those who followed Xiaphas Jurr, the so-called "Prophet of Fire," at the Siege of Mezoa and the liberation of Goth, while the small guard force of Nocturne acted in the aggressive defence of their native region in accordance to their oaths, continuing to raise recruits in their Primarch's name and their Legion's traditions unchecked. Of the Primarch Vulkan, it was assumed through much of the Age of Darkness, incorrectly, that he had perished. Notable Campaigns The military actions undertaken by the survivors of the Shattered Legions against the Traitor Legions forces are too numerous to list, many of which have been forgotten or went unrecorded in official Imperial historical records. Due to the tenacity, sheer determination and uncommon valor of these disparate cells of Loyalist survivors, they were able to strike many significant blows against the Traitors -- upsetting supply lines, committing sabotage, conducting guerrilla warfare and hit-and-run attacks, as well as bolstering the beleaguered defences of multiple Loyalist worlds. Much to the Warmaster's chagrin, he was unable to fully remove the surviving three Loyalist Legions presence from the galactic regicide board, who went on to become a constant annoyance and proved to be a bitter foe who would continuously disrupt Horus's meticulous laid plans throughout the Heresy. Below are listed some of the more notable actions of the Shattered Legions: *'The Deliverance Uprising (Unknown Date.M31)' - Following the calamitous events of Istvaan V and the Raven Guard's flight to Terra to bring word of the disaster, the shattered XIXth Legion returned to their home world of Deliverance. Unknown to them, the insidious Alpha Legion had inserted several of their own Legionaries, surgically disguised as Raven Guard Legionaries who had died on the black sands of Istvaan V. Gathering intelligence on Primarch Corax's efforts to reconstitute his Legion utilising a sample of pure Primarch DNA given to him by the Emperor Himself, the Alpha Legion operative patiently waited until the Raven Guard had achieved a genetic breakthrough. In the meantime, they fomented rebellion amongst the old tech-guilds of Kiavahr, the Forge World that the moon of Deliverance circled, while assembling Alpha Legion forces nearby, for an unsuspecting surgical strike. The Alpha Legion successfully tainted the Primarch DNA, which resulted in the disastrous mutation of newly inducted Raven Guard aspirants in hideously transformed creatures. At the same time, the Alpha Legion's plans reached their climax. The Kiavahr rebellion was well under way, supported by the newly arrived Alpha Legion force, who were camouflaged as Raven Guard. The Loyalist Raven Guard successfully put down the rebellion and killed all the Alpha Legion operatives. *'The Battle of Perditus (Unknown Date.M31)' - The survivors of the Iron Hands 98th Clan-Company, led by Cassalir Lorramech, fought a traitorous Death Guard task force, led by First Captain Calas Typhon upon the world of Perditus, to prevent them from claiming a powerful alien sentient technology, which was later secretly secured by the Dark Angels Legion. *'Theft of the Kryptos (Unknown Date.M31)' - The Raven Guard survivor Nykona Sharrowkyn and Iron Father Sabik Wayland, two Istvaan survivors aboard the Iron Hands vessel Sisypheum, infiltrate a Dark Mechanicum fortress upon the Forge World of Cavor Sarta and obtain the enemy's most valued asset, a mysterious device known as a Unlingual Cipher Host -- one of the so-called "Kryptos" -- a hybrid abomination creature of the Dark Mechanicum that had previously made the Traitors' code network a cryptographic impossibility to break. With the Kryptos, Loyalist commanders were able to finally access the Traitors' coded communications. During one of these transmissions, the Sisypheum obtained valuable intelligence indicating that meeting of two traitor Primarchs, Perturabo of the Iron Warriors and Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children, were to meet upon the world of Hydra Cordatus. *'Attempted Assassination of Fulgrim (Unknown Date.M31)' - Learning of a meeting between two Traitor Primarchs upon the Forge World of Hydra Cordatus, the Sisypheum inserted Nykona Sharrowkyn and Iron Father Sabik Wayland to assassinate both Perturabo and Fulgrim. Acting as a sniper and spotter, Sharrowkyne successfully shot Fulgrim in the head, and by all accounts, had fatally wounded him. The pair of Loyalist operatives managed to successfully evade the enraged force of two Traitor Legions, who scoured the surrounding area for the assassins, and rejoined their crew aboard the Sisypheum. The Loyalist cell decided to intercede in the Traitor's plan to acquire the unknown alien weapon known as the Angel Exterminatus. And so, the Sisypheum changed course and made their way to the Warp rift, known as the Eye of Terror. *'Assault on Iydris (Unknown Date.M31)' - In the wake of the terrible slaughter of Loyalists at the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V, a small fleet of Astartes from the ravaged Raven Guard and Iron Hands Legions managed to flee off-world. Among these vessels was the Sisypheum, a Strike Cruiser commanded by the mortally wounded Iron Hands Captain Ulrach Branthan. Determined to continue to strike against the Traitor Legions wherever and whenever they could, the crew of the Sisypheum eventually manged to intercept the encoded communications of the Traitors and learned that the turncoat Primarchs Fulgrim and Perturabo were leading their Emperor's Children and Iron Warriors Traitor Legions, respectively, into the Warp Rift later named the Eye of Terror by Perturabo, in search of an unknown Eldar weapon known as the Angel Exterminatus. The crew of the Sisypheum temporarily interrupted Fulgrim's ascension to daemonhood, while the surviving Iron Hands Morlock Ignatius Numen slew the Emperor's Children's, Chaos-corrupted Third Captain Marius Vairosean, Raven Guard survivor, Nykona Sharrowkyn, fought and temporarily killed Lucius, the former Captain of the Emperor's Children's 13th Company. *'Battle of Dwell (Unknown Date.M31)' - In the aftermath of the events on Istvaan V, Iron Hands commander Shadrak Meduson led a series of Loyalist reprisal raids against the Sons of Horus in revenge for the Warmaster's treachery. Upon the world of Dwell, Shadrak successfully marshalled a substantial Loyalist force comprised of 58 Imperial Army battalions, some Mechanicum forces, as well as a small force of Salamanders survivors and a token force of White Scars Legionaries. Though the Sons of Horus easily brushed aside the Imperial defenders, they were shocked to discover hidden Loyalist Legionaries hidden throughout the Loyalist's battle lines. During the fighting, Captain Horus Aximand, "Little Horus," was gravely wounded in the face by White Scars Legionaries, and barely escaped with his life. Though the Sons of Horus eventually proved victorious, due to their superiority in numbers, they Loyalists had proven much more difficult to defeat, than at first believed. Later, Horus met with both Primarchs Fulgrim and Mortarion in his command tent to discuss their next moves. The trio of Traitor Primarchs were nearly successfully assassinated when Meduson ordered a surgical strike of a trio of previously hidden Iron Hands Fire Raptor gunships, which wounded all three Primarchs and several Legionaries to some degree. This was perhaps the most successful assassination attempt of Horus, during this conflict, to date. Enraged, the Warmaster detached a substantial portion of his Legion's resources to launch a hunter-killer force to seek out and destroy Meduson and his Loyalist cell. This force was placed under the command of Captain Tybalt Marr, who wished to settle a personal score with the Iron Hands commander. *'Raid on Cruciax (Unknown Date.circa 006-007.M31)' - The Raid on Cruciax, which harboured a listening post of the Word Bearers Legion marked the Raven Guard's return to the battlefield after the crippling losses suffered during the Dropsite Massacre. Intended as a field test to further assess the capabilities and discipline of the new contingent of the XIXth Legion, the Raptors, the raid was a full success, wiping-out the Word Bearers garrison and destroying the facility in less than twenty minutes. The first three hundred members of the Raptors, which were all genetically perfect, were declared battle-ready following this action and the Raven Guard quickly put its eye on a more important target -- the Siege of the Perfect Fortress on the world of Narsis. *'Siege of the Perfect Fortress (Unknown Date. circa 007.M31)' - Located on the world of Narsis, the so-called "Perfect Fortress" had been erected by the traitorous IIIrd Legion, the Emperor's Children. Taking the Perfect Fortress would be an arduous task, a task which in truth lay beyond the capabilities of the severely depleted Raven Guard to take alone. Following the Legion's catastrophic losses and the ill-fated attempt to quickly replace these losses, Corvus Corax decided that his Legion would assail the highly symbolic location. It was then fortunate that shortly after the Kiavahrian Uprising, the ranks of the XIXth Legion were swelled by the reconstituted and vastly expanded the Imperial Army regiments of the Therion Cohorts. The so-called "Perfect Fortress" fell within the day. This highly symbolic action not only marked a severe defeat for the notorious traitorous IIIrd Legion, but also the return of the XIXth Legion to the front lines. It was purely an act of spite against Horus, and even though it nearly brought it to extinction, the Raven Guard would still oppose him and prove to be a thorn in the Traitor's side. *'Liberation of Scarato (Unknown Date.M31)' - Having fallen early on in the Horus Heresy, the former Imperial world of Scarato had been turned into a prison world by its new masters, the Sons of Horus under whose yoke the population suffered heavily. Despite the execution of much of its planetary nobility, resistance -- if discreet -- was progressively organising itself, building its strength for a full-scale rebellion against the Warmaster's troops. When the Raven Guard arrived at Scarato the uprising was nearing its final stage. With the help of the XIXth Legion, Scarato liberated itself from the meagre occupation force left by the Traitors. With Scarato liberated, the Ravenlord ordered its astrophatic choir to be used to send out a rallying call to those scattered warriors that still fought in the Emperor's name. This allowed the Raven Guard to considerably bolster its forces, drawing more than three hundreds Astartes of various Legions to teach them the art of guerrilla warfare that made the Raven Guard such a thorn in the Traitors' sides. Most distinctively, this call allowed the Legion to welcome back one of its most esteemed sons, Gherith Arendi, the former commander of the Shadow Wardens -- Lord Corax's own bodyguard that had been disbanded on the sands of Istvaan V -- and who had been believed slain. During his time away from the Legion, Arendi had gathered information on another prison-world, Carandiru, which would soon come under attack from the Raven Guard. *'Raid on Kapel-5642A (Unknown Date.M31)' - With the XIXth Legion severely reduced, the Raven Guard focussed its attention on sensitive and -- where possible -- less-heavily defended targets in effort to disrupt the enemy's supply lines and reduce its manufacturing capabilities. The brief but hard-fought assault on the asteroid-base of Kapel-5642A emphasized this new strategy by which the sons of Corax would now fight. Located in the Cretherach Reach, Kapel-5642A was a Mechanicum-controlled asteroid-base that functioned as a shipyard, tasked with building new warships for the Traitors' fleets. When the Raven Guard struck, they utilised Stormbirds, Thunderhawks and other assault craft to deliver assault cadres of Legionaries. which quickly disabled the bases' orital defense grid, wrecking havoc amongst the defenders and keeping their eyes away from their true intent. This enabled the Raven Guard vessel, the Avenger, to launch a devastating torpedo strike, which destroyed the bases orbital docks and the ships it contained. So swift was their assault, that the Raven Guard had departed the asteroid-base well before their torpedoes hit their target. The entire offensive had lasted a scant few minutes. *'The Liberation of Constanix II (Unknown Date.M31)' - Atlas was one amongst several barge cities that roamed the skies above the acidic and toxic seas of the minor Mechanicum Forge World of Constanix II. Archmagos Delvere, master of the capital city of Iapetus had allied himself with the Traitor Word Bearers Legion and begun the manufacture of presently unknown daemon-engines. Stumbling upon the Kamiel -- the Strike Cruiser in charge of resupplying the Traitors of the XVIIth -- more by luck than anything else, Corax himself led the assault to take the ship with his most senior officers in tow. Corax split his small flotilla in order to head to Constanix. The Raven Guard quickly assessed that Delvere's malign influence had expanded to nearly each of the other city-barques, including some of the Titans of the Legio Nivalis charged with the protection of the planet's floating cities. Using diversions, the Raven Guard infiltrated and successfully seized control of the city-barque of Atlas with the help of loyalist Mechanicum elements and the might of Castor Terminus, a towering Warlord-class Titan. With Atlas firmly under their control, Corax was swift to order an attack on Constanix II capital, the city-barque of Iapetus where the Word Bearers and Dark Mechanicum awaited them. There the Primarch encountered a new model of hence-unknown daemon-engines whose descriptions match those of the dreaded war-engines known as Defilers. The Raven Guard were eventually able to claim yet another victory over the Forces of Chaos. *'The Day of Vengeance (Unknown Date.M31)' - The Day of Vengeance on the prison-world on Carandiru was to inaugurate a new method of warfare -- a new means to destabilize Traitor-held domains -- but instead became known as one of Corax's closest brushes with defeat. A lone Legionary named Commander Shoukonou infiltrated Carandiru's population and began to expand, form and contact existing resistance cells in order to sow the seed of rebellion against their common oppressors. At the chosen date -- designated "V-Day" or the "Day of Vengeance" -- the civilian uprisings broke out, mobilising the enemy forces and turning their attention away from essential facilities which were then targeted by the Raven Guard. Elite infiltration squads of Mor Deythan landed covertly in the capital, seizing plasma generators and overloading the city's power grid, thus disabling anti-air defences and shrouding the entire capital in darkness. The Raven Guard discovered that Carandiru had not only been a prison but also a diabolical laboratory where gruesome experiments had been conducted on captured Loyalist Astartes. Under the dark input of the Emperor's Children dire Chief Apothecary Fabius, these experiments had evolved in the creation of a superior type of Legionary sometimes referred to as "New Men" or so-called Legiones Superior. Equipped with experimental technologies of unknown and esoteric designs, these "New Men" successfully overcame Lord Corax himself, capturing him, until a taskforce of Raven Guard Legionaries under former Commander Gherith Arendi, disobeying the Primarch's orders, arrived in the nick of time to save their Primarch's life. Notable Shattered Legions Survivors Iron Hands *'Durn Atticus (''Veritas Ferrum)' - Captain of the 111th Clan-Company and commander of the Strike Cruiser ''Veritas Ferrum, he arrived with the second wave of Iron Hands vessels at Istvaan V, due to the damage sustained by the callous attack of the fleeing Emperor's Children at Callinedes, after Fulgrim unsuccessfully tried to woe his brother Primarch Ferrus Manus to the Warmaster's cause. A substantial number of the Iron Hands vessels in the secondary wave were destroyed by the Traitors' surprise attack. After receiving word of their Primarch's death, the Veritas Ferrum made a desperate attempt to flee, but received a vox-hail from two Thunderhawk gunships bearing survivors of the massacre. Sergeant Khi'dem of the Salamanders 139th Company convinced Atticus of their identity, and so, Atticus ordered his ship to recover the survivors. But in the ensuing melee, the Iron Hands lost many more lives the number of survivors they had just rescued, before finally making an emergency jump into the Warp. *'Achaicus (''Veritas Ferrum)' *'Athanatos (Veritas Ferrum)' *'Atrax (Veritas Ferrum)' - A surviving Dreadnought of the 111th Clan-Company. *'Auulus (Veritas Ferrum)' - Auulus was a Sergeant of the Iron Hands 111th Clan-Company. He survived the void ambush at Istvaan V, but would later be killed on the ship's bridge in orbit over the newly discovered Death World of Pythos. *'Catigernus (Veritas Ferrum)' *'Crevther (Veritas Ferrum)' - A Sergeant of the Iron Hands 111th Clan-Company, who served aboard the ''Veritas Ferrum. *'Camnus (''Veritas Ferrum)' - A surviving Techmarine of the 111th Clan-Company, that served aboard the ''Veritas Ferrum. *'Darras (''Veritas Ferrum)' - A surviving Sergeant of the 111th Clan-Company, that served aboard the ''Veritas Ferrum. *'Ecdurus (''Veritas Ferrum)' *'Ennuis (Veritas Ferrum)' *'Eutropius (Veritas Ferrum)' *'Lacertus (Veritas Ferrum)' - A surviving Sergeant of the 111th Clan-Company, that served aboard the ''Veritas Ferrum. *'Vektus (''Veritas Ferrum)' - A surviving Apothecary of the 111th Clan-Company, that served aboard the ''Veritas Ferrum. *'Shadrak Meduson' - Commander of the Iron Hands 10th Clan-Company, the Sorrgol Clan, he would play an instrumental role in the organisation of the Shattered Legions into a coherent Loyalist strike force, consisting of separate cells, and go onto lead a successful retribution campaign against the Traitor Legions. Meduson's ultimate fate, following the events on Dwell, are unknown. *'Bion Henricos' - Sergeant of Shadrak Meduson's 10th Clan-Company, the Sorrgol Clan, he would survived the void ambush and go on to take part in the guerrilla war against the Traitor forces. He would later be killed during the Battle of Dwell by Horus Aximand. *'Ulrach Branthan (''Sisypheum)' - A revered Captain of the Iron Hands' 65th Company, an iron-blooded son of the Nirankar Clan. He had survived the massacre of the killing grounds of the Urgall Depression on Istvaan V during the Drop Site Massacre, sustaining horrific wounds that left him in permanent agony. Kept in stasis, he led the Loyalist crew of the ''Sisypheum in a successful hit-and-run campaign throughout the remainder of the Horus Heresy. Captain Branthan's ultimate fate is unknown. *'Cadmus Tyro (''Sisypheum)' - Cadmus Tyro served as Equerry to Captain Branthan, fighting alongside his fellow Istvaan survivors aboard the Iron Hands vessel the ''Sisypheum. *'Frater Thamatica, "Ironwrought" (''Sisypheum)' - Frater Thamatica was an Iron Father of the Iron Hands Legion, a member of the Morlocks, and a survivor of the killing fields of the Urgall Depression on the world of Istvaan V. It was Thamatica who helped establish contact with the disparate groups of Loyalist forces whohad escaped the Drop Site Massacre, and he helped develop a stratagem for their survival. He would go onto to serve amongst the valiant Loyalist crew of the ''Sisypheum. Following Istvaan V, it is believed that he is the longest serving and senior-most surviving Iron Father within the Xth Legion. *'Vermana Cybus (''Sisypheum)' - One of the few surviving Morlocks of the decimated Clan Avernii during the disastrous campaign on Istvaan V, he would go onto to serve amongst the valiant Loyalist crew of the ''Sisypheum. He stood apart, even in a brotherhood of remarkable warriors, for he had personally witnessed the death of Ferrus Manus at the hands of the treacherous Fulgrim. *'Ignatius Numen (''Sisypheum)' - One of the few surviving Morlocks of the decimated Clan Avernii during the disastrous campaign on Istvaan V, he would go onto to serve amongst the valiant Loyalist crew of the ''Sisypheum. He stood apart, even in a brotherhood of remarkable warriors, for he had personally witnessed the death of Ferrus Manus at the hands of the treacherous Fulgrim. Sustaining serious injuries during the fighting on Istvaan V, Numen's features had the plasticised sheen of synth-skin after a close-range plasma detonation had seared the ceramite of his battle helm to his skull. His flash-burned eyes had been replaced by simple targeting optics, but his hearing was almost entirely gone. Numen's ultimate fate is unknown. *'Septus Thoic' - One of the few surviving Morlocks of the decimated Clan Avernii during the disastrous campaign on Istvaan V, he would go onto to serve amongst the valiant Loyalist crew of the Sisypheum. He stood apart, even in a brotherhood of remarkable warriors, for he had personally witnessed the death of Ferrus Manus at the hands of the treacherous Fulgrim. Thoic's face was bisected by a curling series of scars inflicted by a laughing swordsman of the Emperor's Children. Thoic's ultimate fate is unknown. *'Sabik Wayland (''Sisypheum)' - An Iron Father of the Iron Hands Legion, he survived the disastrous events on Istvaan V, and went on to serve with other Loyalist survivors of the Iron Hands vessell, ''Sisypheum. *'"Karaashi" Bombastus (''Sisypheum)' - Known as the "Iron Thunder of Medusa," Bombastus was a fearsome Iron Hands Dreadnought who survived the horrific events of the Istvaan V, and went on to serve alongside other disparate Loyalist survivors aboard the Iron Hands vessel, the ''Sisypheum. He would later give his life during the events upon the dead Eldar Craftworld of Iydris, to stop the Iron Warriors and Emperor's Children from attaining a xenos weapons, known as the Angel Exterminatus. *'Autek Mor (''Red Talon)' - Autek Mor, , known as "The Maimed" and the "Blood-Wrought," was both Iron Lord and Iron Father to the infamous Morragul Clan of the Iron Hands Legion. He was known for his fearsome mien and bitter anima, and ruled over his Clan Company with an iron fist. Though he and his Primarch Ferrus Manus did not see eye-to-eye, when the Loyalist Legions were callously betrayed during the Dropsite Massacre of Istvaan V, it was Autek Mor and his flagship, the ''Red Talon, that was one of the first Iron Hands vessels that arrived in the Istvaan System amid the titanic space battle that had erupted between the Loyalist and Traitor fleets. Mor ordered his vessel to attack in a desperate attempt to reach the planet's surface and was only driven off after sustaining massive damage, fleeing the system dogged by murderous pursuit. Even as the Imperium reeled, Autek Mor would begin his own war, one fought beyond the sight and the staying hand of the War Council on Terra. It cannot be said for certain when Autek Mor launched the first strike of his campaign, yet certainly the fate met by Gethsamaine Colonus in the Cyclops Cluster must rank as one of the very first such instances. The Iron Hands claimed key Traitor prisoners before destroying the world's major cities in all-consuming nuclear blasts that would render the entire world uninhabitable for generations to come. *'Casalir Lorramech' - Captain of the 98th Clan-Company, who served as a part of the 406th Expeditionary Fleet, he would survive the events of the Dropsite Massacre. He would go onto lead his forces against the Traitor Legions, most notably against the Death Guard forces commanded by First Captain Calas Typhon during the Battle of Perditus. *'Castrmen Orth' - A Spearhead-Centurion of the Iron Hands Legion, he was one its most decorated tank commanders and the youngest to hold such an esteemed rank. During the campaign on Istvaan V, Orth and his "Subjugator" armoured battalions were chosen to fight alongside the elite 1st Clan-Company, Avernii Clan. At the outset of the Traitors' treachery, he took charge of the Iron Hands super-heavy tank spearhead and survived the destruction of his Fellblade Rashemion. He then took charge of a Sicaran Battle Tank, the Black Sun and continued to lead surviving Loyalist fast-attack armour elements against the Traitors' onslaught, successfully turning away a Traitor flanking manoeuvre. Orth's ultimate fate is unknown, but rumours persisted after the events of Istvaan V, that he had somehow survived the catastrophic events -- abandoning both his name and rank for his failure to protect his Primarch -- but not his burning desire for vengeance against the forces of the Warmaster. *'Crius (Crusader Host)' - Crius was the Lord of Clan Kadoran and First Vexilla of the Iron Hands Legion during the Great Crusade. He would later go on to serve as a part of an Astartes Honour Guard, known as the Crusader Host, based on Terra in the days just before the start of the Horus Heresy. With the outbreak of hostilities during the Istvaan III Atrocity, the Crusader Host was rounded up on orders from Lord Rogal Dorn, and imprisoned within the prison of Khangba Marwu. However, he was later freed on secret orders by Lord Dorn, nearly 214 days after receiving word of Ferrus Manus's death on Istvaan V. He was charged by the Imperial Fists Primarch to undertake a special mission, to seek out and find any signs of his lost Iron Hands brethren, in the hope of bringing them back to Terra to aid in the defence of the Imperial Palace. Crius' ultimate fate is unknown. *'Eeron Kleve' - A survivor of the Dropsite Massacre, he commanded an Iron Hands Battle Barge that was later rescued by a small force of White Scars, under Captain Timur Gantulga. Despite deferring his rank in mourning following the tragic death of his Primarch, Eeron would later help lead a ragtag group of Loyalists through the Ruinstorm and to the Ultramarines home world of Macragge, and eventually become a part of Imperium Secundus. His ultimate fate is unknown. *'Ares Voitek (Knight-Errant)' - An Iron Father and Legionary of the Iron Hands, Voitek later joined rapidly expanding force of Knights-Errant. He would later be critically wounded aboard the Sons of Horus flagship, the Vengeful Spirit, during a clandestine missions to seek out and assassinate Warmaster Horus, following the Battle of Molech. He was recovered by his fellow Knights-Errant and put into a medically induced sus-an coma. His ultimate fate is unknown. Raven Guard *'Corvus Corax' - *'Gherith Arendi' - Commander Gherith Arendi was commander of Corax's bodyguard, the Shadow Wardens. He was believed to have been slain during the Dropsite Massacre on Istvaan V, but ultimately rejoined the Legion after the liberation of Scarato. *'Commander Soukhounou' - Merely a simple Lieutenant at the time of the Dropsite Massacre, Soukhounou was a veteran of the XIXth Legion, having been recruited on Terra in the early stages of the Great Crusade. His dark skin and ornate tattoos marked him as one of the apprentice praise-singers of the Sahelian League before being recruited into the Legiones Astartes. Soukhonou was one of the relatively select few to have known both the Legion under Shade Lord Arkhas Fal and its new master Corvus Corax. Having embraced the Primarch’s new teaching and survived the desperate struggle for survival on Istvaan V, Soukhounou was selected to lead the "Hawks" - the Raven Guard’s rapid strike units - following the death of his predecessor, Commander Nuran Tesk. This made Soukhounou the sole non-Deliverance-born amongst the Raven Guard’s command cadre. As part of the Raven Guard’s new overall strategy, Commander Soukhounou was selected to infiltrate the prison-world of Carandiru all alone and convince the population to rise up against its occupants. He would thus become paramount to the events leading to the Day of Vengeance-campaign. *'Branne Nev' - Branne was a Raven Guard Captain during the Horus Heresy era, and Captain Agapito's biological brother. He joined the other Raven Guard officers in drawing lots to see which amongst their number would take part in the campaign on Istvaan V against the Traitor Legions of Horus. Captain Branne lost and so was assigned as the commanding officer of the Raven Guard garrison that remained on Deliverance while the rest of the Legion deployed to Istvaan V. Eventually he led the mission that resulted in the successful combat extraction of Corax and the few Raven Guard Legionaries who survived the Drop Site Massacre. Commander Branne essentially saved his Legion from extinction at the hands of the Traitor Legions. As the XIXth Legion began to rebuild itself following the massacre Branne was appointed by Corax to serve as the Legion's new Master of Recruits. Upon the induction of the first cadre of new Raven Guard Astartes, he was named the Commander of the Raptors, the name given to the new Raven Guard companies raised using the pure Primarch DNA and the accelerated growth protocols. *'Agapito Nev' - Agapito was a Raven Guard Captain and the Commander of the "Talon" Tactical Companies of the Horus Heresy-era Raven Guard Legion. Agapito was the biological brother of Commander Branne. Both of them were part of the original rebel group of Lycaeum prisoners that was lead by Corax to freedom before the arrival of the Emperor in the Kiavahr System. Agapito was suspicious of the unusual actions of some Raven Guard Legionaries who were actually Alpha Legion agents, and he confronted the infiltrators. *'Nuran Tesk' - Commander Tesk was appointed command of the "Talons," after the death of the infiltrator posing as Commander Solero An, who was slain in the Battle for Ravendelve. Commander Tesk however died himself a scant few months later during the Siege of the Perfect City, thus leaving the "Talons" leaderless until Lord Corax appointed Commander Soukhounou. *'Aloni Tev' - Aloni was a Raven Guard Captain and the Commander of the "Falcon" Assault Companies of the Horus Heresy-era Raven Guard Legion. *'Navar Hef' - Amongst the Raven Guard, few were so loyal to the ideals and teachings of Corvus Corax than Navar Hef. One of the early recruits of the Raptor-contigent, Navar Hef suffered severely from the genetic curse that plagued most of the Raptors. Being one of the earliest warriors to suffer from these deformations, Hef quickly rose to prominence amogst these mutated warriors - colloquially called "roughs" in opposition to the genetically perfect "smooths". Far bulkier than his fellow warriors, Navar Hef was required to wear a bastardised suit of Power Armour forged from the remains of Mk II "Crusade" and Mark III "Iron"-pattern armours whereas most of the Raptors wore the far more advanced Mk VI-pattern. The Techmarines of the Legion even had to adapt a helmet from a suit of Terminator Armour to enable him to deploy to zero-gravity or low-oxygen environment. Hef's mutations however proved a powerful asset in the field, as his superior hearing and claws made him a lethal opponent. Quickly after the Battle for the Ravendelve, Navar Hef was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and given command of one of the newly-formed companies of Raptors. Becoming rapidly known for his aggressive nature, Hef quickly learned to temper his temperament with cold reason after one of his previous actions almost ended with the death of allied troops. *'Strike Captain Alvarex Maun' - Known as "Nightfall One", Alvarex Maun served as the Master of Descent during the Great Crusade and opening days of the Horus Heresy, commanding his Legion's planetstrike operations. Alvarex, however, performed his duties from the front lines, descending from orbit with the first wave of drop ships and leading the action to secure the dropzone in person. He was present during the Drop Site Massacre on Istvaan V, leading from the front, until the perfidy of Horus was fully revealed. When Lord Corax ordered the Raven Guard to break out of the Urgall Depression, it was Strike Captain Alvarex who responded instantly, ordering his Thunderhawk to descend through the torrent of fire and to extract his Primarch. After extracting the Primarch, one wing of the gunship was shot away and the pilot was killed. Alvarex took the controls of the aircraft, determined to save the Primarch even at the cost of his own life. Bringing the severely damaged gunship down in a controlled crash landing, he saved the life of the Raven Lord even though five of the crew were slain and he himself was badly injured. *'Balsar Khutturi' - Librarian Khutturi was not amongst the most powerful from the Librarium department of the XIXth Legion, but his continued survival made him of paramount importance to the Legion during the days of the Horus Heresy; especially after the Raven Guard discovered Alpha Legion-infiltrators within their ranks. Khutturi’s main mission quickly became to ward the Legion against such infiltration-attempts, skrying every Legionary’s mind in order to confirm their identities and true intent for rallying the XIXth Legion. *'Stradon Binalt' - Techmarine Stradon Binalt was a rare survivor of the Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V and a member of Corax's Honour Guard. Stradon Binalt and his fellow Techmarines developed many of the jury-rigged parts, alterations and fixes to the Legion's badly damaged battle plate following the Drop Site Massacre that led to the creation of the Mark V "Heresy Pattern" Power Armor designation for all non-standard Power Armour marks. Techmarine Stradon was also able to unlock the secrets of the Traitor's prototype Vengeance Bolt rounds and developed a multi-layered Ceramite plating to better protect the Loyalists from the Traitors' deadly ammunition. In the months following the retreat from Istvaan V, Stradon worked to rebuild Corax's destroyed Jump Pack and presented the finished device to the Legion's Primarch just before the assault on Narsis. *'Napenna' - Captured on Istvaan V during the infamous Dropsite Massacre, Techmarine Napenna was one of many captured loyalist Astartes shipped out to and imprisoned on Carandiru to be experimented on by the mad Chief Apothecary of the IIIrd Legion, Fabius. Held in a highly secured facility known as Nadrezes, Napenna was amongst those fortunate enough not to have been experimented upon. When the Raptors-Company under Commander Branne liberated the complex, Napenna gathered what survivors he could and staged a breakout during which he inadvertently killed two of the mutated Raven Guard, having mistaken them for some of Fabius' failed experiments. *'Vicente Sixx' - Following the crippling losses of the Dropsite Massacre the Raven Guard’s Apothecarion laid in ruins. As the most experienced surviving Apothecary, Vicente Sixx was appointed as the new Chief Apothecary of the XIXth Legion. With only fifteen years of experience as a member of the Apothecarion, Sixx’s promotion was dictated by necessity, a fact he is noted to have strongly resented. Sixx sadly perished a scant few months after his nomination, slain by Alpha Legion infiltrators during the infamous Khiavarian Uprising. However, his contributions in the creation of the Raptor-Company were instrumental in securing the Legion’s survival. *'Chamell' - Shade Sergeant Chamell was the sergeant of a reconstituted squad of the famous Mor Deythan -- the Ravens Guard's elite infiltrator units during the years of the Horus Heresy. Being all veterans and survivors of the notorious Dropsite Massacre, Chamell's squad was often called upon to prepare the Raven Guard's offensives on the ground, infiltrating enemy key positions to allow the Legion to deploy. This often required for the squad to venture deep into enemy territory, most times through Whispercutter-insertion, silently murdering their way to their objective be it in the heart of an enemy fortress or the highest spire of a hive's towers. *'Ashel' *'Balsar Kurthuri *'Sallahn''' - Legionary Sallahn served with Squad Numas, 31st Shadow Company during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. Legionary Sallahn's reconnaissance squad began the Istvaan V operation serving in the 31st Shadow Company -- a formation directly under the Legion Command instead of serving in the line. The 31st suffered such heavy losses at the height of the Drop Site Massacre that when the breakout order was issued, Squad Numas was one of only a handful of units capable of responding. Legionary Sallahn was instrumental in identifying viable extraction vectors and communicating these back to what remained of the Legion Command, covering the Legion's withdrawal throughout and saving the lives of hundreds of his brother Legionaries. Much later, Squad Numas would receive the praise of Corax himself for the pivotal role it played in the Legion's survival through that darkest hour. *'Senderwat' - Mor Deythan and Squad Chamell’s designated pilot. Legionary Senderwat was a true master of his craft, piloting the squads Whispercutter mere centimeters away from walls that would have send the fragile craft crashing down below. On Carandiru, in preparation of the events that would become known as the Day of Vengeance, Senderwat guided his Whispercutter between rows of buildings through six kilometers of enemy-held territory without being detected. *'Strang '- Mor Deythan and member of Squad Chamell. Present at the Day of Vengeance. *'Inachus Ptero (''Veritas Ferrum)' - A veteran Legionary and former Librarian, Brother Ptero was killed by the Daemon Madail on the world of Pythos after escaping the Drop Site Massacre of Isvtaan V, fighting alongside the Iron Hands Legion's surviving members of the 111th Clan-Company. *'Nykona Sharrowkyn (Sysipheum)' - Former member of the Raven Guard’s 66th Company, Nykona Sharrowkyn was one of the survivors of the infamous Drop Site Massacre of Istvaan V in the early 31st Millennium. Seperated from his Legion and with no mean to rejoin them, Sharrowkyn joined an Iron Hands-led group of survivors to continue the fight against the Warmaster’s lackeys. As part of the crew of the almost legendary ''Sysipheum, whose deeds still echo down through the ages, Sharrowkyn was instrumental to most of the ship’s successful missions. Nykona Sharrowkyn was counted amongst the deadliest Astartes of the Horus Heresy-era, having been taught in hand-to-hand combat by Corvus Corax himself. To this day, Sharrowkyn is known for being one of the earliest persons to have defeated the reputated swordman Lucius the Eternal of the Emperor’s Children Legion. Although no member of the Mor Deythan, Sharrowkyn was also a skilled infiltrator whose skill and marksmanship with the Needle Sniper Rifle was legendary. His ultimate fate remains unknown. Salamanders Sources *''The Horus Heresy - Book Four: Conquest'', by Alan Bligh, pp. 19, 157 *''Age of Darkness'' (Anthology), "Forgotten Sons," by Nick Kyme & "Little Horus," by Dan Abnett *''Deliverance Lost'' (Novel) by Gav Thorpe *''Angel Exterminatus'' (Novel) by Graham McNeill *''Vulkan Lives'' (Novel) by Nick Kyme *''The Unremembered Empire'' (Novel) by Dan Abnett *''Vengeful Spirit'' (Novel) by Graham McNeill *''The Damnation of Pythos'' (Novel) by David Annandale *''Meduson'' (Anthology), "Meduson," by Dan Abnett, "Unforged," by Guy Haley, "The Keys of Hel," by John French, "The Noose," by David Annandale, "Gray Talon," by Chris Wraight, "The Either," by Graham McNeill *''The Primarchs'' (Anthology), "The Lion," by Gav Thorpe *''The Purge'' (Novella) by Anthony Reynolds *''Raven's Flight'' (Short Story) by Gav Thorpe *''Kryptos'' (Short Story) by Graham McNeill *''Riven'' (Short Story) by John French *''The Value of Fear'' (Short Story) by Nick Kyme *''Feat of Iron'' (Novella) by Nick Kyme *''Strike and Fade'' (Audio Drama) by Guy Haley *''The Either'' (Audio Drama) by Graham McNeill Category:S Category:L Category:History Category:Imperial History Category:Imperium Category:Iron Hands Category:Raven Guard Category:Salamanders Category:Space Marines